Oregon OK’s agreement for future development

Written by Kelly Kaczala

May 05, 2014

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Oregon council on Monday authorized the mayor and finance director to enter into an agreement with the Oregon Economic Development Foundation for future land development and the purchase of city property located at 4417 Parkway Road.

The city, which owns approximately 12.8 acres of property in the Cedar Point Industrial Park, plans to transfer the parcel to the Oregon Economic Development Foundation, which is the city’s economic development arm.

The Foundation is negotiating with developers to use the land for construction needs for the Oregon Clean Energy project, immediately north of the site, according to City Administrator Mike Beazley. After the property is sold, the Foundation will transfer the proceeds to the city.

http://www.presspublications.com/components/com_jce/editor/tiny_mce/plugins/article/img/readmore.png); font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Arial, serif;">“As we work on developments for the Oregon Clean Energy project, the city identified some parcels that are going to be the main target locations for the project,” said Beazley

WarehouseThe parcel, at the corner of Blue Heron Road and Parkway Drive, includes a drainage pond. The property will be used to build a facility to assist in the construction of an $800 million energy generation plant known as the Oregon Clean Energy project. After the project is completed in three years, the facility would be used as a warehouse for light manufacturing that would be available for future development, said Beazley.

“We see it as a win for Oregon. It’s land the city has had available for many years now. I’m excited that there’s an opportunity to move forward,” said Beazley.

The energy generation facility, which will convert clean natural gas to electricity, will be built on a 30 acre parcel of land at 816 N. Lallendorf Road, located within an enterprise zone. It will provide enough new electricity for 500,000 homes. Ground breaking for the project is expected this spring or early summer.

Oregon Clean Energy officials felt it was important to have land available for construction and warehousing support for the project, said Beazley.

“Really, the better news for us is essentially that it will add to our inventory a spec warehouse or light manufacturing facility as a space for future development. The team is very interested in marketing it or putting something together for that facility after they’ve finished the construction period. In order to facilitate this, our standard practice is to turn it over to the Foundation for a dollar. Any and all the proceeds that come from this will come to the City of Oregon,” said Beazley.

Jobs growth“I feel good about the project,” said Beazley. “We’re excited about their interests in the land, and moving forward with more development.”

Councilman James Seaman asked about the value of the property.

Beazley said it would be marketed at $12,000 per acre, the same price as the property to the north that will be used for the Oregon Clean Energy project.

“Our primary objective here is we’re more interested in growing jobs than we are in land development,” said Beazley. “This is an important step towards building jobs, and that’s more important to me than the price. As we’ve looked at other land in the area, it’s a reasonable price for industrial land in Oregon now.”

The project is expected to create about 450 construction jobs over three years, and 26 new full-time, permanent jobs once the facility begins operations, with a total annual payroll of about $3.2 million.